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Strong hands grabbed me in the go, twisting me around until my back was flat against a hard chest. I struggled, kicked, and scratched until curses flew and I nearly got away.
Another pair of hands grabbed me, forcing my arms behind my back as well. The metal was cold and uncomfortable against my wrists, and so was the fear that had my whole body in an icy grip. They took me to the van, forced me inside and not long after, Johnny stumbled in as well.
“Marc?” I shuffled to him, wishing with every fiber of my being I could touch him. But my hands were locked behind me, and no matter how I pulled and twisted them, they didn’t come free. “Marc?”
“Fucking good plan,” Johnny muttered, and my eyes darted to him, struggling to sit without falling over as the car jerked into motion.
“We got them, Boss,” one of the men spoke into what I guessed was a phone, and I nearly cried. I couldn’t see them, but their voices came through sharp enough for me to catch their words.
“Three. We’re taking them back. Where do you want them?” The voice asked. “Dungeons?”
“I’m so sorry,” I cried, eyes again drifting to Marc. He lay on his side. The shirt that hung loose over his left shoulder had fallen off, revealing bruised skin and a bump that didn’t look natural. A keening sound slipped past my lips.
“Son of a bitch popped his shoulder,” Johnny put my thoughts into words, and I bit back another sob before it could embarrass me further. I had no right to cry, not when I was the one who did this. We were here because of my stupid idea to call this man.
Mafia.
The word taunted me. What was I thinking? I had to fix this if it was the last thing I did.
“Hey!” Johnny’s voice was harsh, but what did I expect? For him to comfort me? I glanced up at him, then had to look away. The look in those black eyes didn’t match his voice. The pain and regret shone in his dark irises. He could put on a brave face and pretend all was well. I saw straight through him, just as I did with Marc. What was it about men trying to be so hardcore?
“I got you both into this mess,” I said. “I will get you out. I will find a way, I swear to—” To what?God? If he was on my side, he wouldn’t have done this to us in the first place.
Johnny seemed to know what I was thinking. The sneer only increased my determination. He didn’t believe I could do anything. I’d show him. Not for him, but for me and Marc.
A low groan made me scramble to Marc. His eyes shot open, flickering around the narrow space, and widened as they landed on me. “Kaylie,” he rasped. “The fuck—”
“You are not doing this alone,” I spoke with such determination he tried to smile. It looked like a grimace of pain, and it was accompanied by a strangled cry as he tried to shift.
“Are you okay?” Johnny asked, and I shot him a glare. Did it look like he was okay?
Even Marc scoffed. “Fucking perfect,” he gritted out. “Never been better.”
I never felt so helpless. With my arms bound, I couldn’t brace myself, let alone Marc. All I wanted was to hold him, to soften the rough jerks as the car shook. Instead, I had to watch him suffer through this ride from hell, knowing I was the one responsible for it.
I wanted to cry, to lie down and curl up in defeat, but something didn’t let me.
The car came to a halt after what felt like a lifetime of despair. I could barely look at Marc without crying. It was enough to hear his shallow breaths and muffled groans. His eyes were on me the few moments they didn’t squeeze shut. I blinked away tears, holding his gaze and hoping he felt some sort of comfort in the only thing I had to give. A sliver of my soul. My full spectrum of emotion shining in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks.
Voices from outside broke our eye contact. The door slid open, letting in a gust of damp forest air, and I recoiled, scrambling as far from the men as I could. They were dressed as if they were going to the office, black suits, and shiny combed-back dark hair. Blank looks on handsome faces. This was how real danger looked like. The typical street thug was nothing. This was controlled danger. Controlledcrime. And it was so much risker when hidden under fancy clothes and calm professionalism.
A gun pointed at me, and I tried to breathe through the sudden rush of fear.
“Get out,” a voice demanded, and I had no choice but to obey. The gun aimed at Johnny. “Move!”
He gulped and did as he was told. The two men flanking the one with the gun moved to grab our arms, pushing us into motion.
I craned my neck, trying to see Marc through the heavy rain beating down on me. When I didn’t, I started to beg.
“Don’t hurt him! He has nothing to do with this. I’m the one he wants! I’m supposed to marry his son. You can’t kill me. I won’t do it if you kill Marc! Do you hear me? You can’t—”
“Shut up!” The sudden shout, accompanied by a gun pressed into my neck, cut off my rambling, and I walked in silence as he led me over black slabs of stone floor leading up to a building towering over us.
I lifted my gaze and stared. The massive structure was the last thing I expected to find in the middle of the forest. Dark gray stone walls, two, or possibly three stories tall, if you counted the towers sticking up over the dark roof. Deep, arched windows were carved into the stone, reminding me of a fortress.Or a prison, something inside me corrected, adding to the already growing sense of doom. I blinked rain out of my eyes, dropping my gaze to the wet ground.
The man led me inside a hall with a tall ceiling. It was stone as well as the exterior, and a giant crystal chandelier lit up the dark walls. We headed straight to a staircase to the right, and I stumbled down the dark path until I stood on solid ground. I lifted my gaze and froze.No. I feared it. Even expected it. But seeing the heavy black bars stretching from ceiling to floor, and knowing I was going to be behind them, made every cell in my body die a little.
A push to my back made me stumble forward. And as the man shoved me through the door, and slammed it shut, I didn’t try to fight.
